Washington DC Attorney General sues Marriott over "deceptive resort fees"
Jul 13, 2019, 11:07 am
#106
Join Date: Jun 2011
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How is it that a flat rate local tourist tax (EUR 10 per person/night in VCE or EUR 4.50 person/night in PAR) “tend[s] to impact all rooms equally or at least proportionally” and doesn’t impair the ability for the customer to “see the accurate relative pricing of their choice of rooms” but a flat resort fee (say USD 20 per room/night) doesn’t have the same effect?
Jul 13, 2019, 11:54 am
#108
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I am detecting various shades of “it can’t be done” or “it isn’t the government’s role to get involved in what consumers see”, both of which are obviously some mix of factually incorrect and in principle.
Jul 13, 2019, 12:17 pm
#109
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: DTW
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I’d like to see taxes included in the rates as is the case for airfares, but one can argue this is less egregious since all properties in a given area are subject to similar government taxes, whereas the “resort fees” are entirely at the discretion of the property and range from zero to more than the room rate. Not having these included in the advertised rate makes comparing them needlessly difficult, which of course is the entire point of the fees.
Jul 13, 2019, 2:11 pm
#111
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 902
Actually, both in Paris and Venice tourism tax for hotels fluctuates according to the season and the hotel’s star rating.
Jul 13, 2019, 3:10 pm
#112
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 3,097
That's not inconsistent with what he's saying. The hotel can't arbitrarily decide which tax rate applies to its rooms. And when it fluctuates, it fluctuates for all properties together.
Jul 14, 2019, 1:40 pm
#113
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Seriously? Why is it harder to do? For Marriott it is just a matter of calculating the taxes and adding it to the room rate on the front page rather than listing them at check-out. Booking.com already does it and shows the additional taxes and charges below the rate. In the case of the Westin example the $102.68 additional taxes and charges includes the resort fee which is disclosed before purchase. If booking.com added the fees and charges to the room rate you would have an all-inclusive price. It is actually more difficult with resort fees. Percentage based resort fees can't be determined until a room rate is selected.
I am all for a flag that the property listed in the front page on Marriott charges a resort fee. An optional filter to remove those properties could be implemented too.
Millions of airfares are changing daily yet when I query a fare the price I see includes all taxes and other fees. It isn't uncommon to have a dozen or more charges included in the final price. It isn't difficult at all.
If a property is advertising $10 nightly rates for a 5-star hotel you know/should know that the rate is below market. If travel websites were only earning commissions on a $10 room rate they would be dropping them like hot potatoes.
Vegas is a totally different market where supply and demand can see a room rate swing from $40 to $600 or more. The resort fee included in the taxes and charges total below the room rate is disclosed on booking.com on the front page, how is that deceptive? Do you need someone to add the two together for you?
One other thing: the "taxes and fees" line item is deceptive. It should be "taxes" - with everything else that is not a tax in the other amount. I think we just established that programmers are amazing and will have an easy time doing this. ^
Yeah, I can't figure that one out. Nobody is telling us how resort fees are a good thing for the consumer. No one can provide a justification for them that isn't rooted in deception.
Jul 14, 2019, 6:35 pm
#114
Join Date: Apr 2018
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Titanium, American Airlines Platinum, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 37
Here's the CEO defending resort fees:
https://onemileatatime.com/marriott-...s-resort-fees/
1) They're nothing like baggage fees, because baggage fees are optional - don't check bags if you don't want to pay them.
2) Every actual resort I stayed at where I paid a resort fee, activities were still an additional charge. Also, a lot of non-resort hotels in the city are now charging these fees too, and they don't have "paddle boarding and bikes".
3) As a Lifetime Titanium I already get free breakfast at most hotels. Coincidentally, at island resorts where I have to pay a resort fee, I STILL have to pay to upgrade my free Elite breakfast to a proper one.
https://onemileatatime.com/marriott-...s-resort-fees/
- He argues that resort fees are the hotel industry equivalent of baggage fees in the airline industry
- He says that when resort fees started a bit over a decade ago, of course they were somewhat financially driven, but it was a way to include things like paddle boarding and bikes with the room rates
- He thinks that resort fees are well disclosed
- Marriott’s approach is that these fees must include a package of benefits that is a multiple of the cost of the fee, and in many hotels that may now include a food & beverage credit, which is often equal to the fee itself
- These fees aren’t going away, but Sorenson acknowledges you can only add these in some markets and some hotels, and not in suburban markets where there may be very limited features they can add
2) Every actual resort I stayed at where I paid a resort fee, activities were still an additional charge. Also, a lot of non-resort hotels in the city are now charging these fees too, and they don't have "paddle boarding and bikes".
3) As a Lifetime Titanium I already get free breakfast at most hotels. Coincidentally, at island resorts where I have to pay a resort fee, I STILL have to pay to upgrade my free Elite breakfast to a proper one.
Jul 14, 2019, 7:17 pm
#116
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Also, baggage fees are easily avoided with 1) any basic airline status and/or 2) having a co-brand credit card
Marriott does neither
What a joker
Marriott does neither
What a joker
Jul 14, 2019, 7:46 pm
#118
Join Date: Feb 2005
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Platinum Elite; UA MM
Posts: 325
Glad to see that AG is initiating action on this deceptive way of listing actual prices.
I'd also like to see someone file a class action suit to recover the fees that many of us paid for years for wifi via resort fees though Marriott said we were entitled to free wifi because of our program status. Hard to believe that a CEO could defend those shenanigans or would defend the intended deception about room rates by listing resort fees separately..
I'd also like to see someone file a class action suit to recover the fees that many of us paid for years for wifi via resort fees though Marriott said we were entitled to free wifi because of our program status. Hard to believe that a CEO could defend those shenanigans or would defend the intended deception about room rates by listing resort fees separately..
Jul 14, 2019, 7:57 pm
#119
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After taking into account the 200-500% markup on in-hotel F&B that these types of properties tend to charge? As we all know, that's still no excuse for not including it in the room rate.
Jul 15, 2019, 7:26 am
#120
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This is good. Marriott's CEO needs to keep digging. The more times he's interviewed about this the better. The more the media has an opportunity to report on the hotel industry's justification for resort fees, the better. I love it how he brings up baggage fees, a thing not analogous to resort fees at all, but also a thing that nobody likes. He's basically saying "the airline industry is terrible, so we're going to be terrible too."
Every one of his points so far is either (a) a perception shared by almost no guests at all or (b) an outright factual lie. When he says "they aren't going away", he's providing extremely direct rationale for why the hotel industry cannot be trusted to behave ethically and that regulatory action is needed.
So keep on digging. Only increases the audience that is paying attention and the likelihood that other AG's begin to hear from their own constituents. ^
Every one of his points so far is either (a) a perception shared by almost no guests at all or (b) an outright factual lie. When he says "they aren't going away", he's providing extremely direct rationale for why the hotel industry cannot be trusted to behave ethically and that regulatory action is needed.
So keep on digging. Only increases the audience that is paying attention and the likelihood that other AG's begin to hear from their own constituents. ^